Is Teslmusk Legit or Another Scam? The Truth Revealed

Recently, Teslmusk.com site popped up, promoting itself as a platform to store cryptocurrency and other assets securely. I managed to gather reliable supporting information that clearly indicates it is, in fact, a fraudulent site.

Despite the promises of the most convenient, trustworthy, and client-friendly service, Teslmusk.com does not follow any of them. All this is just a gilded wrap around a clear scam, which takes your funds and never returns them. Any tales about gifts, sponsorship from celebrities etc are nowhere to be found as well.

Teslmusk Scam Overview

Originally, Teslmusk poses as a crypto trading & cryptowallet platform with exceptionally low commission fees. Another notable selling point for this site is partnerships with celebrities that are known as crypto activists. Vitalii Buterin (Ethereum creator), Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet – the site claims having significant support from them. To make these claims look more realistic, con actors use AI-generated videos where those celebrities advertise the fraud as if it was the best thing in the world. For known reasons, Elon Musk is the most common among them. But, as I mentioned above, all this is just a blatant wrap around an obvious scam.

Teslmusk Scam

To begin with, Teslmusk shares the design of numerous equivalent websites. There are quite a few examples, like Teslabyt, Tenelax or Sxmwvp. They are entirely identical in terms of graphic elements, with slight discrepancies in the site header. Other details, and sometimes even crypto wallet addresses, are identical. Most likely, all these scam online platforms are led by a single team of frauds.

Cryptocurrency Scam Summary

How the Teslmusk Scam Works?

Teslmusk is a part of a significant cryptocurrency scam scheme that started circulating vividly in 2023. Rascals who stand behind it use numerous website designs, which still share the identical overall layout. Another mutual element are the ways the scams like NAME are promoted, and the manner all this ends up to the victim of the scam. To reach peak efficiency, frauds apply advanced psychological tricks that make the user believe in the legitimacy of the website. But let’s review them one by one.

Step 1: Promotion

To start the scam, criminals set up and fill accounts on popular social media platforms. They mainly aim at Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Subsequently, the promotional campaign commences. Employing bots and paid promotions (when possible), scam actors increase the exposure of their scam activities to possible victims. And as I said, scammers do not shy away using generative AI for creating clips with the mentioned celebs that advertise their scam to the public. To boost the folks even more, frauds claim the bonus for every user who registers the service immediately.

Promotions of cryptoscams like Teslmusk in TikTok. Most of these videos are AI-generated deepfakes

Users get an incentive to enroll, enticed by the assurance of obtaining cryptocurrency prizes valued at hundreds of dollars, all without cost. To increase the appeal of the offer, false claims of sponsorship by a celebrity are incorporated. As you may guess, these assertions are completely baseless.

Step 2: Gaining Traffic

After following the promos, victims end up on a page filled with attractive offers. “Crypto starts with Teslmusk”, “Your crypto savings are secured with Teslmusk, “Start earning with Teslmusk – they look rather reliable. To heat up users and make them proceed to step 3, crooks say that obtaining the pledged bonus requires registration. And as nothing concerning happens at this point, uninformed users happily move on – especially as the reward appears to be right behind the corner.

This is the last stage when it is possible to steer away from the scam without any losses. Before you register using your personal information, frauds will not earn even a penny from your presence on the website.

Step 3: Data Gathering

This is the starting poing of the main fraud action. As I just mentioned, deceivers bait folks for registration with bonuses. And all the personal info needed for it – email, username, crypto wallet address – is valuable for user identification. Solely by gathering this information and selling it further into the Darknet, crooks can earn quite a penny. Still, their plans go much further.

As it turns out, the alleged bonus is not available to use right away. To make it at least usable for cryptocurrency purchases, you need to top up the account with the equivalent sum. And this is what starts the final step of the scam.

Step 4: Requesting funds

Eventually, any crypto purchases require you to have capital on your account. With Teslmusk, users are also compelled to top up to get the bonuses. And this is what creates the majority of the money flow to this fraudulent site. By topping up the account, users hope to get the pledged gift (usually $500-1000 in USDT), and may start engaging on this website hoping to use all the credited funds and withdraw them.

This is where the victim notices the problems. When keeping an eye on the real crypto wallet vs what the site says, you can spot that no transactions are done whatsoever. And then, when you’d try to pull out the money from your account, the scam is finally uncovered to the user.

Step 5: Escaping from Funds Withdrawal

Needless to say that fraudsters are naught on intentions to give your money back. But to make the denial look more realistic, they’ve crafted a whole pack of reasons to decline the transfer-out request. Usually, they repeat what KYC regulations say, but for the Teslmusk.com they are here exclusively to make the withdrawal impossible.

By requesting your personal information, frauds just stall hoping for you to accept the loss and stop contacting them. If you don’t – well, there are a dozen other checks you should go through before getting your money back. And each of these checks will reveal more and more information, which – you guessed it right – will be then marketed on the Darknet. Never reveal your real info to strangers!

Signs of Scam

I gathered several facts that point at the scammy nature of the Teslmusk.com. Actually, there are a lot of scams that fall under the same points, so they are pretty much universal.

• Cryptocurrency-Only Transactions. Teslmusk.com insists on cryptocurrency payments exclusively, excluding conventional methods like bank transfers. This strategy ensures anonymity for the scam and eliminates any possibility of seeking refunds.
• Dubious Company Credentials. Teslmusk arouses suspicion by failing to provide critical information about ownership, location, and legal registration. The lack of valid contact details and the recent creation of domain and social media profiles cast doubt on its legitimacy.
• Baseless Hype Generation. Teslmusk resorts to fabricating non-existent achievements, such as contracts with Coinbase or endorsements from Elon Musk, to manipulate emotions and enhance the perception of potential returns, enticing victims to invest more.
• Fictitious Celebrity Association. Teslmusk employs a deceptive tactic by falsely associating itself with well-known figures like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mr. Beast, and Mark Zuckerberg. Additionally, the scam falsely claims partnerships with established entities like Coinbase, Binance, or MetaMask to bolster its false credibility.
• Potential Ponzi-Like Model. The scam operates on a pyramid-style referral system disseminated through social media, benefiting only initial participants and relying on later investments to sustain the illusion.
• Unrealistic Profit Promises. Promising improbable returns of 50-100-200%, Teslmusk capitalizes on the desire for high profits. However, the tumultuous nature of the cryptocurrency market renders such gains implausible, solidifying Teslmusk.com as a definite scam.

What Should I do as a Victim?

If you had to deal with Teslmusk site and fell victim to that scam, there are still some steps to take. They will make further scam attempts harder, and also boost the knowledge about that scam among folks.

• Report the scam to authorities. Search for local authorities responsible for financial frauds, and also notify wallet providers and social networks via their tech support. It is essential to make the further operations of these scammers much harder.
• Tell your close friends. That step is similar to reporting to the authorities, and has similar effects. By posting info about scam crypto service, you decrease the pool of people they can fool.
• Get evidence. Screenshot or save all the information related to the website. URL, screenshot of a main page, login window, EULA, account top-up menu, wallet addresses – all these things may be useful for authorities to find the scammers.
• Check whether you can ask for a refund. As I’ve said above, crypto payments do not fall under refund policies in most banks. Nonetheless, in some circumstances, it is still possible. Never lose hope until you actually confirm it is gone.
• Make your mistake your lesson. Financial losses are always a reason for frustration, but let’s imagine it was a pay for scam revealing courses. Remember the key features of these crypto scam sites, the way they attract people and what they promise. In the future, you will easily recognize a trap of spending no money.

Scan your system for possible malware infections

Beware of cross scams! Scam actors can use your trust to make you download some stuff or interact with certain documents. It may be a trap that installs malware to your system. There are no moral barriers or limits for these scoundrels.

Throughout the course of the fraud, scoundrels may reach out to you with specific files. Alternatively, they may suggest you to deploy “cryptocurrency wallet applications” or “browser extensions” to facilitate access to your cryptocurrency assets. As we earlier figured out, these deceivers have no intent of returning your funds. So, what can these emails and browser extensions represent? You guessed it right – that is another side of the deceptive plan designed to entice you into willingly installing destructive applications onto your system.

Both add-ons and files attached to email messages can function as a shell for different malicious software. In this case, I foresee the presence of spyware and stealers among other kinds of malware. While it is not mandatory for scammers to distribute malware, the probability is always significant. As noted, their morality is of no concern, and their reputation is already deeply compromised. They have nothing to give up and aim to boost gains.

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